Hell’s Backbone
The snowy peaks of the Hell’s Backbone mountains seemed to be on fire as the first rays of the sun peaked over the ridge to the east. It’s a cold October morning in Boulder, Utah, pop 236. After a few encouraging words, my vintage Bronco reluctantly sputters to life as I continue to wander southern Utah’s back and further back roads. I am mesmerized by the natural beauty of it all. This morning’s bright sun illuminates the oranges and yellows of the mountains and plateaus and contrasts so vividly with the sky’s deep blue. The high desert seems inhospitable, with little life apart from some wild sage and weather-worn pines. However, the Anasazi civilization thrived here over a thousand years ago. Ancestral Puebloan communities settled here around 1000 BC. Seeing the ruins, trying to visualize life here a thousand years ago. Solitude seeping in. Hoping to make Fish Lake and the quaking Aspens by dark.
